Meghan’s first visit at Apartment 1A, Kensington Palace, where Kate and Prince William live, has been detailed in Finding Freedom, the newly-released book by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand. Meghan was invited for tea and cake at Kensington Palace in November 2016, when she first met Prince William.
As she was entering the house, where Prince Harry and Prince William grew up with Princess Diana, Meghan took a mental note of a few remarkable details, including heartwarming pictures of the royals, according to the authors of Finding Freedom.
Recalling what she noticed, the book read: “On the console tables in the foyer, Meghan took in the framed photos of the brothers with their late mother, Diana, family moments with the Queen, and cute snaps of George and Charlotte.
“Although she had never met the people in the photos before, she had heard a lot about them from Harry.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry now live in California (Image: GETTY)
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry married in 2018 (Image: GETTY)
“The three of them walked straight past the drawing room, with its neutral colour palette accented by important antiques and artwork, and straight to the rear of the first floor and the heart of the Cambridge family home: the kitchen.
“No fuss, no servants, just the three of them and the tea they were about to drink”.
The Cambridges have placed pictures of Diana around his apartment to keep the memory of the late princess alive and to help George, Charlotte and Louis get to know her.
READ MORE: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s ‘blind date orchestrator’ unmasked?
Meghan Markle met Prince William in November 2016 (Image: GETTY)
Royal expert Katie Nicholl told OK! magazine: “William is keeping his mother’s memory alive.
“They have photos of Diana around the house, very deliberately so, and he speaks about her to the children.
“He and Kate share stories with them about how Diana helped people and they tell the children how much they would have loved their grandmother.”
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Meghan saw pictures of Harry and William as she entered Kensington Palace (Image: GETTY)
Despite Meghan nervousness over meeting her boyfriend’s protective older brother, her introduction to the Duke of Cambridge was pleasant, according to Finding Freedom.
The authors wrote: “She was self-aware enough to understand that the brothers were wary of women who were more interested in their titles than their wellbeing.
“And she couldn’t have come from a more different world than that of William, his wife, and most of their friends.
“Because of all this, she had thought the entire meeting though, as she told a friend.
Meghan Markle and Harry have stepped down as senior royals (Image: EXPRESS)
“‘She prepared herself for a grilling’, a confidant said.
“But she needn’t have worried.
“As soon as William opened the black double doors to welcome Meghan into his home, he said, ‘I was looking forward to meeting the girl who has put that silly grin on my brother’s face’.”
Two months later, at that same home, Meghan finally met Kate as well, who could not be alongside her husband in November as she was at Anmer Hall in Norfolk with their children.
Princess Diana lived at Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace (Image: GETTY)
That meeting has been described by the authors of the book as brief.
Meghan introduced herself to Kate with a present to mark her birthday, which had taken place the day before.
She also seemingly conquered Princess Charlotte, then 20-month-old, according to the book.
It read: “Meghan brought a present for the Duchess, who had celebrated her birthday just a day earlier.
“The soft leather Smythson notebook helped to break the ice, as did Meghan’s cooing over the 20-month-old Charlotte.”
